Minutes of the Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting
Monday, January 25, 2015
Present: Peter Beaupre, Jr. (Chairman), Sara Szado, Mark Bodak
Also Present: Timothy Pascale, Director/Program Coordinator; Jeannie Guertin, Administrative Assistant; Craig Szado, Monson High School Varsity Baseball Coach; Kim Evans, Monson High School Athletic Director
Peter called the meeting to order at 5:20 p.m.
Craig Szado appeared before the Commission to discuss our baseball evaluations. Craig will again direct the evaluations for the Parks & Rec Department. The cage (net) has many holes in it and is not safe. If there is no cage available, players’ batting skills cannot be evaluated. To purchase a new one would cost approximately $2,500, but Tim thinks that we have a net that we can use to replace the faulty one. Our top evaluated U9 group joined the John L. Sullivan (JLS) league last year, and it was agreed upon that we would not join that league again. There was some disorganization and the oppositions’ field conditions were poor and unsafe in some instances. The remaining two U9 teams entered the Pinto league with Palmer and
it went well. We will join the Pinto league again this year. If we do not join JLS, we can have evaluations for our U9 age group later than the older groups. The 3rd/4th grade age group (8-10) will join the Tri Town league. Seventh and eighth grade kids can play JV for the high school if we get a waiver. There are 7th/8th grade boys from Palmer looking to play in Monson. Tri Town rosters are due April 8. We have to enter our U10 team into the Tri Town league. Our softball players can join the 7th/8th/9th grade rec league. Last year we only had four girls register and they merged with Palmer, who needed more players and it worked out well.
Kim Evans was asked if the net could go up in time for our baseball evaluations. This would be the weekend before high school tryouts, which start March 21. Kim said that would be possible. Ideally, she would like the net up one week before high school tryouts. The high school gym floor is a concern as the Town just invested $14,000 in refurbishing it, and it should be preserved from any damage. There is a roll out protective mat that can be purchased for the purpose of protecting the floor. It can be used in instances where there may be chairs brought in for events, or any other instance where the floor might be damaged. Craig said that he has a mat that is used outdoors in front of the batter’s box that he can place in
front of the batter during indoor baseball use to protect the floor. He also has two turf mats he can use to protect the floor from the batters’ feet.
It was decided that baseball evaluations for U11 and U13 will take place Saturday, March 19, and Sunday, March 20. There will be no evaluations for our U9 age groups, since they will all be entered into the Pinto league.
Parks & Rec will collaborate with NE Elite and hold baseball clinics on Sundays in February and March.
Regarding the creation of an outdoor ice skating rink, the Commission will revisit this in April with the intent to submit an application to the Community Preservation Committee in August. Peter will discuss at the next CPC meeting in order to get any feedback from the Committee for the project.
Spring soccer fields will have to be placed at Lower Rogers Field for the older teams. There can be no soccer fields at Veterans Park since the JV baseball team uses the field there. A portion of Upper Rogers Field will be modified for Instructional and Bantam Lacrosse.
Tim said the concrete floor was poured last week for the new Parks & Rec storage building. The building is located directly behind the Fire Station, to the right of the Bellmen garage.
Tim brought in someone to look at the mechanisms to raise and lower the basketball hoops at Granite Valley Middle School, and is getting prices for repairs. If we can’t get in new electric mechanisms, we should fix the manual ones.
Regarding accounts receivable, we received the summer soccer fees for high school age boys, but we still have not received field fees for men’s summer soccer. There was a high amount of outstanding basketball balances, and that number is down to $1,500 in total. Jeannie has been sending out e-mail reminders to those who still have an outstanding balance.
Sara made a motion to approve the December minutes, and Mark seconded. All in favor and the motion passed.
The next meeting will be Wednesday, February 24 at 5:15 pm.
The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeannie Guertin
Administrative Assistant
Timothy J Pascale
Director/Program Coordinator
Monson Parks and Recreation
110 Main Street
Monson, MA 01057
413-267-4105 - Phone
413-267-0327 - fax
| 
